RWBY: FEAR
by daemonlord32
Summary: Criminals and friends Franz Stigler, Erich Hartmann, Adolf Galland, and Richard Lützow must change their ways when they are forced into attendance at Beacon academy. Where they will have to work with other teams and fight the creatures and people who threaten humanity.
1. Chapter 1 A Simple Walk in the Forest

RWBY: FEAR

Chapter One;

A Simple Walk through the Forest

Hartmann remained perched on the tree limb, his muscles tensed and 45 inches of death clasped in his hands. He heard the approaching footfalls and the angry growls of disgruntled Grimm. He saw Stigler sprint past, a pack of Beowolves close on his heels, but waited till the first of the Ursa passed underneath him. He sprang forth from his place amongst the trees and his blade cleanly entered the beast's skull, its crimson blood splashing up onto the hilt. He barely had time to withdraw the sword from its resting place when he had to dodge the wide swipe of a second Ursa's claws. Which promptly dropped dead, an eight-inch combat knife severing the spinal column in its neck. Hartmann gave a curt nod to Galland, who was grasping the hilt of the blade in the things neck. Hartmann then launched himself from the corpse of the slain Ursa at one whom was charging through the forest to them. It roared as it swung at him, but was stopped abruptly by the blade slashing across its throat, and instead produced a weak garble, along with plenty of blood, before collapsing.

He turned back to the others just to see Stigler remove his great sword from the carcass of the last Beowolf. His Blade was near 6 feet long, and functioned also as a 23mm anti-material rifle with the magazines being loaded in at the base of the sword. Like most of their blades, it was composed of steel alloy and forged using Damascus. He also had two .44 magnums holstered at his waist, a large knife hanging from his belt, and a cudgel he fondly referred to as "The Persuader". "Next time I get one of the Ursas," he proclaimed, "these Beowolves are just no fun." He kicked the nearest corpse to emphasize his displeasure. Stigler was the tallest amongst them at 6'3" and also the most pompous. Although not the greatest fighter or strategist amongst them, he usually spoke in a somewhat arrogant tone and would act as the leader at times. This was fine by the rest of them, as long as he pointed them in the direction of something they could kill. He was a relatively thin fellow, which made it surprising he could handle his weapon with such dexterity. He kept his brown hair was slicked back and had a thin beard on his chin. He wore a plain suit with a white shirt and black tie, with a full-length black leather trench coat draped overtop.

Behind him Lützow was picking his way through the Beowolf corpses, sticking the blade of his mechanical arm into any that still showed signs of life. He found one and viciously jabbed the chain-sword into the creatures side, the whirring teeth sending giblets and drops of blood spewing onto his arm. His head was shaved and he was the shortest amongst them at 5'10". He had become a cyborg after a king Taijitu had bit of his left arm along with a good chunk of his torso. They had been modifying it ever since and it had evolved from simply something to prevent him from bleeding out, to a fully functioning arm with the ability to function as a chain-sword. Currently they were attempting to construct a plasma cannon function for the arm as well, and were almost complete. The right sleeve of his suit and leather jacket had been torn off to not hinder his mechanical arm and its transformation processes. "You think this will bring in enough cash to get that final component for the Cannon?" Lützow called.

"No, but we're getting there." Stigler replied.

"Any opportunities for a dust heist? Those can prove to be quite lucrative." Galland added over the corpse of the Ursa he was currently gutting with one of his knives. His voice was gruff and he often growled his statements through the thick beard he grew on his face. His dark hair was longer than the rest of the groups, and was unkempt and shaggy. He was about 5'11" and packed with muscle. He wore a dark suit and deep blue tie underneath a three quarters length black leather trench coat lined with Kevlar. He also wore black leather gloves similarly lined. Among them he was the most heavily armed, he almost looked like some old-western gunslinger with two bandoliers across his chest holding depleted uranium .30 caliber rounds for the sniper rifle slung on his back. On his belt he carried a 13mm hand cannon and a .454 automatic pistol. Along with a variety of combat knives hung his favored weapon, "The Blade of Dismemberment" with a 23 inch Tungsten blade it could easily cut through whatever was foolish enough to be in his way. They all knew that inside that trench coat he also carried a host of throwing and combat knifes.

"Shouldn't be too hard either." Hartmann boomed. He had the deepest voice of the group, one that was quite mellifluous. It flowed like sweet honey but at the same time bit like cold steel. It was the sort of voice that demanded for attention. He had been crouched near one of the trees gingerly wiping the blood from his sword and muttering incomprehensible words to it. That blade was his prized possession 45 inches of Damascus forged tungsten gave the blade a blue tint in the light, and at is center laid a most unusual natural dust crystal. He had found the vain while in a cave hunting for a Deathstalker, it was a naturally formed dust crystal that contained each colour flowing seamlessly together. Having that within his sword allowed him to easily channel massive amounts of his aura through his sword, and transition through the different powers of dust flawlessly. On the sides of the blades were archaic ruins believed to invoke demons, he had forged the blade with these symbols and taken a blood oath upon it, supposedly allowing a demon to take refuge in the sword and enhance his fighting ability considerably and he had deemed it "Der Vorbote von Sterbefall" or "The harbinger of death". Of course there was no proof to suggest this was the case, but, as he put it, why the hell not. Were his real strength lie is in his genetic and augmented enhancements. He had served as somewhat of a guinea pig he and his friends' experiments aimed to improve the human fighting capability. These experiments ranged from a strengthened bone structure, to modified organs, to an improved immune system. And they had worked. His skeletal structure was now strong as steel, his immune system could fight infections and parasites that would normally kill a person, his lungs, he now had three, had been modified to enable him to inhale extremely toxic substances and survive, his eyesight was that of an Eagle, he had two hearts and stomachs, a greatly enhanced metabolism allowed him to heal wounds at a remarkably accelerated rate. He was quite legitimately a superhuman. He stood at 6'2" and appeared as a wall of muscle, his dirty blonde hair was kept in a military style cut. He almost always wore suits, typically black with red ties and a black leather jacket.

"When should we do it?" he asked Stigler, who usually planned what they would do. "There will be a dust cargo train passing by tomorrow afternoon." Stigler replied.

"I know a place we can hit it, and it will look just like the white fangs at fault."

Hartmann was about to reply when he dived sideways and a fireball burst on the tree behind him. "HUNTER." He shouted, and the four of them sprang into action. The hunter took aim at Hartmann again but swung around and instead went to fire the bolt of energy at Galland who sprung from the trees behind. Galland had to admit the hunter had skills, reacting as quickly as he did and the shot would have killed him to. If the icicle Hartmann launched hadn't torn through the hunter's wrist causing him to miss. The next thing he knew he was on the ground, staring down at his own entrails that were now splayed across his lap. A faint "Oh." Managed to escape his lips before he began to hack up blood and died.

"Only one this time?" Stigler called as he strolled towards them his blade sheathed. "They must be getting lazy."

"Or they're just running out of hunters." Lützow suggested from behind.

"No," crouching down in front of the corpse and smiling " I think this fellow was just enjoying a simple walk through the forest."


	2. Chapter 2: Initiation

Chapter 2: Initiation

Lützow looked down and admired his newly modified arm, testing out the movement and transformation sequences. The heist had proved to be just as lucrative a deal as they had suspected. They had received enough profit from it to purchase all necessary parts to fully complete it. A uranium power cell now energized the arm, so Lützow would no longer have to worry about carrying enough dust to power it. They had also added the plasma cannon that, with a liquid nitrogen cooling system, was now capable of letting of one shot every two seconds.

"I'm looking forward to testing this thing out." He said, taking aim at the nearest wall. "It will have to wait I'm afraid," Stigler answered, "Beacon initiation is today and we hardly want to disrupt their… activities." This received a grunt of disproval from both Lützow and Galland "I hardly see the problem with that, we'll probably just end up killing them when they become full-fledged hunters and huntresses." At Galland's remark Hartmann looked up from the screen of his laptop "Yeah, sure, but hardly see any sport in slaughtering a bunch of new recruits."

"I suppose"

"When do they begin?" Hartmann asked Stigler.

"Soon I would believe." He replied.

"Well then I see no harm in watching, maybe this fresh blood will prove to carry some effective fighters in their ranks."

"Whatever."

Hartmann left them for the roof, and began to polish Der Vorbote von Sterbefall's blade. The house they had acquired held a spectacular view of the Emerald forest, being on a mountainside and all. It was hardly noticeable from anywhere else and kept far away from population. They had constructed an array of automated perimeter defenses that were sufficient to keep the Grimm at bay, and it boasted plenty of workshop space for them to construct whatever was their current focus. They had discovered it shortly after they all left their homes and entered with the intention of taking it from whoever was inside. Only to discover it was empty. And strangely enough no one ever returned, to them it made no sense why someone would construct such a house only to leave it there. The architecture in the house was exquisite. It was solidly built and finely detailed. Many objects and pieces of art that where quite expensive rested inside, but the most useful part was the expansive underground sections of the house. It contained a variety of hangar sized underground bays, most of which were completely empty. These areas were quite useful for the team's experiments and establishing a training area. The house was near as perfect as they could have hoped for, but there was always the lingering question of "why is it here?" Of course they did not look the proverbial "gift horse" in the mouth and simply accepted the house as their own.

Despite the location, this new home was not all that much nicer than the ones they had lived in previously. It would likely surprise anyone to discover that these criminals had once lived happy, well to do lives. There was no miserable sob story behind their motives for leaving and really had nothing to be hateful about. They had lives that many people long for; happy, healthy, without anger or strife, there was hardly anything for them to complain about. And that was exactly what they disliked. Since they had know each other they had all wished to be hunters to fight, to be in danger, to kill. But their parents would hardly allow for any of them to attend Signal, Beacon, or any form of combat school. Due to this lack of training, they took it upon themselves to train and condition each other. They all would spend the majority of their free time either sparring with the others or simply practicing their technique, they were also sure to remain in peak physical condition.

It was Hartmann who had acted first; one day when they were fifteen he put it quite plainly. "We should leave." No more explanation was needed as, perhaps it was due to how well they new each other, they shared a seemingly telepathic method of communication knowing what the others meant and predicting what the others would do in combat. It was this that made them such an effective team being able to coordinate and attack with each other in the heat of battle without the need to utter a single word. So that night they all met at a spot outside the Emerald forest, each with a single bag containing whatever weapons and belongings they wished to keep. Unfortunately, without parental consent they could not attend Beacon, and so they lived in the Emerald forest, killing Grimm and selling what they harvested from them and mining dust and other ore from inside caves within the mountains. They deemed themselves "FEAR" Franz, Erich, Adolf, Richard, a four-letter acronym of their names imitating that which is done to the students at Beacon and if asked what they did they would reply "We're hunters." Although in reality Mercenaries would be a more accurate way of describing their profession. As their reputation increased they began to receive requests from all walks of like, from the White Fang wanting to off some corporate executive, to corporate executives wanting to off some member of the White Fang. Had a problem with Grimm in your area? FEAR. Tired of some asshole? FEAR. Want an Ursa skin rug? FEAR. Is there something strange in your neighborhood? Who are you going to call? FEAR. They were quickly established as a threat, and once the police force failed to contain them hunters and huntresses were sent. And they simply killed them. Entire squads of professional hunters had fallen at the hands of those four, and they enjoyed every second of it.

Looking back on it all Hartmann could scarcely believe so much had happened in only two years. Two years. They could all be at Beacon right now, part of the initiates undergoing their first trial today. At that he heard the light echo of gunfire in the distance and looked up from his sword to see the specs that must be the new students flying into the forest. For some time all he heard was the faint reverberation of combat through the forest until something caught his eye. A Nevermore was circling over one spot in particular and judging by its cries it was seriously displease with whoever was down there. He continued to watch this bird until it engaged in open combat at the Cliffside. From what he could see the team fighting it was faring much better than he expected actually managing to get some hits of their own on the Nevermore. Then, much to Hartmann's surprise, the Nevermore was pulled up the cliff and neatly beheaded at the top. Sure, a Nevermore was hardly a big deal if you were experienced enough, but for a group of new recruits so manage such a thing… well they just might prove to be decent hunters after all. "Could it have been one of the teachers helping them?" he asked aloud. No, Ozpin would have just let the students die rather than help, because if they were dumb enough to fuck with an enemy they couldn't handle then they wouldn't make the make for a proper hunter anyway. He took one more glimpse at the Nevermore's headless carcass drifting down and out of sight by the Cliffside, and proclaimed out loud to whoever had killed "I don't know who you are, but I look forward to killing you killing you." With that he sheathed his sword and headed back inside.


	3. Chapter 3: A special case

Chapter 3: "A special case"

Hartmann rushed the Death stalker, its massive pincers snapping angrily and its tail poised to strike. The kill would be easy in this case; at this speed on open ground he could easily slide under the Grimm and slice open its weakly armored underbelly. He was nearly ready to enter the slide when a burst of superheated air rushed passed him and blasted through creature's head plating. A large chunk of its head was gouged out and immediately cauterized by the heat, Hartmann spun around to see Lützow grinning the smoking barrel of the plasma cannon in his mechanical arm lowered at his side. "I thought you went after that pair of Nevermore's with the others." Hartmann called. Lützow's answer came as he began to cross the clearing. "Aye, but I clipped their wings, so to speak, Stigler and Galland should be handling the process." Hartmann walked turned and examined the smoldering crater in the Death Stalker's cranium. "Well, your help was hardly needed here, and now the head plating is ruined." Despite his disdain at his friend's casual waste of a usable part, he had to admit that Lützow was becoming deviously efficient with that thing. He better have with months of practice under his belt. Hartmann unsheathed the combat knife from its place on his belt and began to remove one of the plated sections of the thing's back. Once he had placed that on the ground, he made a delicate incision, well as delicate as one can be with a combat knife, and adorned a pair of Kevlar lined gloves, he reached his hand his had inside the gash and gently grasped the toxin gland he soon found. He pulled it out and placed it inside a box Lützow held out to him. You never knew when some of a Death Stalker's toxin could be useful. "Do you recall where those Nevermore's went down?" Hartmann asked, "We'll go help them with the work their, then bring around a vehicle for this guy." He gestured to the cooling corpse behind him. Lützow nodded and headed back across the clearing again.

Little remained of the Nevermores than a stain in the grass and a few piles of worthless flesh. The rest of them lay packed inside the backs of two large ground transporters Stigler and Galland had brought into the forest. "We will likely have to deposit this at our base before harvesting the Death Stalker," Stigler stated, "there is hardly room left in these for much more."

"No matter, that wasn't what we came here for anyway." Grunted Galland. "And we already have the most valuable product." Hartmann's head snapped around and he dropped into a crouch, a bullet ricocheting from the side of the vehicle. His katana flashed out and he held at the ready he stated; "Multiple targets." Before springing forward through the trees. Two more gunshots followed by a slight cry met the other three's ears before they reached him. He stood over the corpses of two hunters, his katana held in front of them. They immediately formed a circle with their backs towards the center as hunters emerged all around them. "Good lord Mr. Stigler, are we going senile?" Hartmann asked aloud.

"It would appear so Mr. Hartmann, this is hardly typical of us."

"I attribute the lapse in security to Mr. Lützow here." Galland growled.

"I hardly believe the fault is mine, Mr. Galland. The act of four people dismantling a Nevermore has never been the quietest of procedures."

"Well the racket of your chain sword rending flesh did not help matters in the least."

The Hunters had fully deployed their forces in a perimeter around the four now. It was quite the impressive display, there must have been at least two-dozen hunters and huntresses assembled there. Hartmann questioned where Ozpin had rallied such a force. Small squads were typical for them to encounter whilst about their business, but this was quite extraordinary. They must really want them dead. Hartmann began to survey the crowd standing at the ready before him, staring into each individual's eye and taking note of the weaponry they displayed. He saw quite a few of the obvious veterans, they had a cold look in there of having experienced many ordeals through there life, but there was also a weariness to them as they were well aware of the damage these four young men had wrought on their comrades. There were also those who had obviously known some of his previous victims, as their eyes shown bright with hate. He also was able to answer his own question of where the bulk of this force had come from. Multiple pairs of eyes he examined werebright eyed and eager that withered under his gaze. There were also a few of those filled with terror at the thought of facing such formidable opponents after having been students of Beacon for such a short time.

He then began to visualize the dance of death he would perform once he was amongst their ranks. Imagining how he would dismember each and every one of them, picking out the greater threats that he would go at first. The first of his kills would have to be those who appeared the most experienced among them, and these would also have to be the most vicious. He would behead them, assist his strikes with blasts of his aura to send cause their bodies to tear apart, smattering the others with blood and gore. Once that was completed, the others, especially the newest members, would be terribly disheartened and the weak that stood in their ranks might lose their will to fight entirely.

Weiss Schnee stood alongside her team; the Myrtenaster was held tight in her left hand and raised beside her face. Team RWBY was one of the first rookie teams Ozpin had chosen for the mission, being they were some of the top students at Beacon. The group they faced was a great deal more handsome than she had expected for a bunch of delinquents, Especially the one that she stood closest to. He was tall and incredibly muscular, he wore a well-tailored suit and leather jacket. She knew that this couldn't distract her though, everyone knew of FEAR and the countless hunters they had dispatched. The anticipation was killing her, she knew that Ozpin had preferred the group alive, which was why such a large force had been assembled, hoping they would surrender if presented with overwhelming odds. But as Weiss watched his gaze shift from person to person, she could tell that they did not plan on giving in soon. With each moment a new possibility crossed her mind of how she would be killed by these criminals. Finally his crossed to her. And it held. She sensed Ruby's grip on the Crescent Rose tense as he stared in their direction. His eyes were sharp and calculating, and a striking shade of blue. She stared back into his eyes as to not show fear, but quickly found herself lost in them like an ocean. She snapped out of that trance and shifted her gaze to the weapon he held in his strong hands. Which was also not a good idea, quickly bringing images of the shimmering blade cleaving through her flesh.

As Hartmann's eyes continued his survey they fell across a face so angelic, it nearly took his breath away. She possessed flawless skin a beautiful colour of winter cream. Her face was framed by beautiful white hair and contained fierce ice blue eyes that glared at him. Her gaze met with his and quickly shifted downward to his katana, where they lost a little of their anger and soon after shifted to look past him. A faint scar ran down her face across her left eye, and he found this quite enticing. She had a wonderful body to accompany such a face, petite and elegant, presumably very agile in combat. Hartmann had always liked his woman as he liked his weapons; sleek, elegant, and deadly. He longed to hear her scream his name in pain as he killed her. Slowly.

He then observed the girl standing next to her; quite adorable really, she appeared younger than the rest with a very eager look in her striking silver eyes that didn't give way when he made eye contact. She also possessed a small frame and the exited look in her eyes almost reminded him of a puppy, the cute adorable type that you would hold against your chest and squeeze closer to you until the bones cracked and they began struggle, releasing such pleasant cries. He wondered about her weapon, it currently took the form of a large caliber rifle, bolt action by the look of it, and the awkward shape implied it possessed another for. It looked to be a scythe similar to those he had constructed, albeit somewhat smaller and more awkward looking in the rifle form, but proficient users of such weapons were rare. Hartmann then realized a slight issue. He couldn't kill those two girls. Well, of course he could but he simply didn't want to. At least not in the way that would be done here. He found them striking, and they deserved more pleasant, slower deaths. Well, more pleasant for him at least. In the carnage that would ensue there would hardly be room to consider keeping them alive and taking them prisoner. And he could not remember a time he had witnessed such beauty possessed by the white-haired girl, or such an adorable demeanor as the girl in red has. Hartmann had perhaps one weakness, an exceptionally pretty face. In all likelihood they would not be killed if they did not fight. If they had wanted the four of them dead the hunters would have attacked already. They were obviously hoping the four of them would surrender when faced with such a great number of enemies. That of course would never happen, but the circumstances Hartmann considered now were a different matter. He could understand Ozpin wishing to have them in his repertoire if hunters, and if that were the case he would perhaps have a chance with that white haired girl.

With that he had made his decision. He sheathed his sword and stepped forward. "Christ on a fucking bike man! What in the hell do you think you're doing?" Galland hissed at Hartmann. Hartmann interlocked his fingers behind his head and announced, "I offer you my surrender." Stigler glanced back at him muttering; "Damn, he's gone soft." The other members of FEAR now knew the options were not in their favor. Before they likely could have one but without Hartmann… With a symphony worth of profanity and grunt they sheathed their weapons and holstered their firearms stepping forward and doing as Hartmann had. The surprise of the hunters was evident and they were slow to react wondering if it was perhaps some trick, but the members of FEAR were men of honor, and would never pull such a dirty trick. So, after a moment a group moved forward and restrained them.

The hunters began the process of confiscating FEAR's weaponry. Hartmann glared daggers at the man who removed his sword in a "Treat her well, or else." Expression. They also removed the .40 caliber semi-automatic from the inside of his jacket along with his combat knife. The expression of the faces of those searching Galland was quite entertaining when the witnessed the inside of his trench coat, and just removed the whole coat rather the go through the meticulous task of removing every blade and gun, which he was visibly displeased about. They were somewhat confused as

They were all loaded onto separate Bullhead's separate from their weapons and each escorted by a squad of professional hunters, Hartmann was quite disappointed the squad containing the white-haired girl was not assigned to him, but if they were a student squad it made sense. His friends were also quite disappointed, but in Hartmann's acts. They could not believe their comrade had surrendered, of course they knew he had his reasons, and all of their suspicions were confirmed when they got on those transports. Ozpin wanted to recruit them.

FEAR stood before Ozpin in his office, they're arms no longer restrained although they still did not have their weapons and could sense the detail of hunters waiting just outside the door. They stood shoulder-to-shoulder, with their hands clasped behind their backs. Ozpin remained silent, eyeing them over his mug of coffee. Eventually he stood and addressed them with a simple "Gentlemen." He received a unified "Sir." From each of them, "You all have caused quite the great deal of damage." FEAR continued to remained passive their eyes fixed straight ahead "Trespassing in restricted areas, murder, theft…" Ozpin continued to list off the numerous offenses the four of them had committed "almost impressive really. And quite enough of a reason to put you to death right now. However, You four have shown remarkable combat skills, as is clearly evident in the many hunters you have dispatched. Which, and I'm sure you all have figured this out by now, is exactly why you have not been executed." The professor set down the mug and leaned forward; resting his hands on the desk "I understand that, despite your most unsavory behavior, you do hold quite a strict sense of honor." This was very true; although the only response he received was eye contact and a nod from Stigler who abruptly went back to staring ahead. "This is why I am willing to accept you all as… a special case."

"You would be enrolled as students at Beacon and trained to become official hunters, this world could certainly use fighters of your caliber. All that I require from you is your word to abide by the rules as student of Beacon, and not relapse into your old ways. Or we could execute you immediately. The choice is yours."

Each of them clasped their right fists on their chests over their hearts and all proclaimed in unison; "By our honor, you have our promise that we shall follow your command from this day forth." Ozpin stared at them for a moment then responded, "Very well gentlemen, welcome to Beacon. You begin tomorrow. Follow me." He moved past them and out the door into the hallway and they filed out after him, Stigler in the lead. In the hallway the detail of Hunters tensed, their hands resting on their weapons. Ozpin raised a hand and they backed of slightly. He gestured with his heads to the four new students, "You may return their weapons now." The looks of disbelief he received from the hunters were quite amusing, but Ozpin had given his commands and those who had confiscated their weapons moved forward. The four boys received their weapons warmly, as a parent would receive their own child, and once they had properly situated them in their scabbards and holsters Ozpin began to move again.

They emerged onto a raised stage, with what appeared to be the entire student population of Beacon assembled in front of it. Murmurs arose from the crowd in the anticipation of what they presumed to be an impending execution of some of the most wanted criminals on the planet. So it what Ozpin said next came as quite a surprise to the assembled masses, "Adolf Galland, Erich Hartmann, Franz Stigler, and Richard Lützow. From this day forward you shall work together as team FEAR. Led by Franz Stigler." Gasps of disbelief were quite audible from the students. He had just announced them as though they were new students at the school. Could this be some form of joke? Could it be a mockery of them as they had mocked the school by calling themselves FEAR? After the commotion of the initial disbelief had died down each student continued to stand there, waiting for Ozpin to continue, for those for to die. Instead, nothing. "That is all," Ozpin, concluded, "you may now return to your respective dormitories."

As the students began to slowly shuffle away, it was all the members of team FEAR could to not smile at being allowed to keep their designation.


	4. Chapter 4: Unwelcome Guests

Chapter 4; Unwelcome Guests

Hartmann reached out to disable the alarm that had awoken him, only to nearly lose a finger to the .454 bullets that silenced it. Stigler rolled out of bed and brought his great sword up instinctively at the sound of the gunshot. "Nothing to worry about, just Mr. Galland here over reacting a bit. You'll have to get a new one by the way." Hartmann glanced over Galland; his head now buried in his pillow, gun still in hand. "What ungodly hour even is it?" his groan muffled by the pillow. "Eight, breakfast is served at 8:30, classes begin at 9." Stigler replied. Hartmann stood and picked up his folded uniform "At least the uniforms a suit." He strolled towards the bathroom, sleeping shirtless had hardly been a problem at their previous residence but, when sharing a single room with four other men it was quite queer. "I hardly see the point of classes, this is an academy for warriors why aren't we just killing things. And at a reasonable hour." Galland managed to drag himself from his bead with a groan.

The rations each team was dealt were much more generous than team FEAR anticipated, although it was still finished remarkably fast. With nothing better to do in the time till class Stigler, Hartmann, and Galland each produced a combat knife in their right hands and laid their left on the table with the fingers spread apart. They then began a remarkably fast paced match of five-finger filet, a habit they developed to keep their knife work precise and fast. They would continue until one failed and drew the blood of another, Lützow was typically excluded, what with his mechanical arm and all.

The other students were visibly wary of team FEAR's presence, he tables around them were vacated and others gave them a wide birth when passing. So it came as a surprise when a female voice addressed them from behind. "Beacon must really be hard up for recruits is it allows you in." The sudden voice threw Stigler off his rhythm, nicking Hartmann's finger. A few drops of blood fell to the table but the cut was superficial and began to clot almost immediately. Hartmann and Galland adjusted so that their blades danced between each other's fingers. Stigler and Lützow were left to acknowledge the voice, which suited Hartmann fine; he had never been much of a people person. He was usually very cold and curt when addressing other people, appearing standoffish and like a general asshole. And if he were addressing an attractive female, well then he either went full retard or became a total asshole. The girl began to berate the four of them, as "criminals unworthy of proper education, who pollute the reputation of hunters and huntresses by simply be present within this academy." While her tone was harsh he could not dispute the points they were making, as, technically, they were criminals. He noticed her addressing their multiple offenses against her family. Was she a Schnee child perhaps? He would never have thought that a member of such a prestigious family would enter the line of work as a huntress, but it was possible. He could not think of any other specific families that they had created recurring crimes against besides that of the Schnee dust company. Although he sincerely doubted that what the looted from them made much of a dent in the millions their company brought in each year, but they had dispatched several officials amongst the organization as well and displeasure towards such acts was clearly understandable.

Weiss was visibly quite displeased when the announcement of the new tem had been made the night prior, and even more so upon seeing them in the dinning hall the following morning. "Weiss, please, this really isn't necessary. Can't you just leave them alone?" Ruby pleaded to Weiss as she strode towards the near empty table where team FEAR sat. She whirled on Ruby "They are bunch of miscreants! They might as well be members of the White Fang with all they have done to my family! It is unthinkable that they should be allowed to attend this academy." She spun around again and continued her march to the table. Yang walked up beside Ruby, "She'll get herself killed if she's not careful" Ruby, Blake, and Yang continued to follow Weiss; "Well there is hardly anything we can do about it now, she apparently finds it absolutely necessary to track down and chastise every living being she sees as 'a miscreant and a scoundrel'." Blake quipped. Ruby sighed as Weiss reached her destination, Yang's statement was not far off, with this kind of behavior towards a verifiably dangerous team Weiss was asking to be injured. And losing a teammate to injury was not something Ruby wished her team to experience so close to the interschool tournament.

Team FEAR was doing something that appeared quite dangerous involving their knives and their teammates fingers when team RWBY arrived. Weiss's first statement evidently broke the concentration of one of the members as his blade drew blood from the hand of the largest member of the group. He and the bearded one continued to ignore the members of team RWBY and instead focused intently on the movements of their blades. Weiss continued to scold them until a displeased look crossed her face at the realization that two members were completely disregarding her, and she was not used to being ignored. She reached out a hand to each of their shoulders, "Show some respect and look at me you ingrates!"

Hartmann took pristine care of the leather jacket he wore over his uniform and did not take kindly when others touched it. Or really touched anything part of his person in general. So at a light touch on the shoulder he whirled on the girl who had been speaking, wrapping his left arm around hers he could break it with the slightest of ease and grasping her throat in his hands. He stood up, still holding the combat knife in his right hand and stared sown at the girl. He opened his mouth to say something but stopped short when he found he was staring into a pair of fierce ice blue eyes, ice blue eyes framed by long white hair. He stood there somewhat dumbfounded for a moment, staring into the eyes of the very girl whom he had not fought because of in the Emerald forest. His hand had been cut by Gallands blade during his sudden movements, and drops of his blood dropped down to the shoulder of her uniform before the cut closed up. The pressure on her throat prevented her from speaking clearly but another voice interjected from the side "Let go of her you fiend." He turned his head to the other members of the girl's team standing there, with weapons drawn. His teammates remained seated and he could hear their chuckles at being well aware of what why he hadn't broken the white-haired girl's arm yet. The command had come from a girl with long dark hair and golden eyes. Once his brain started to function again to some degree, as earlier mentioned he had entered the "full retard" zone mode of conduct, and he released her. Hartmann stepped back and bowed his head slightly, "My apologies miss. That was simply a battle born reaction."

"And very well you should be." She took a few steps towards her team, her throat still soar from Hartmann's powerful grip, "I at least hope Ozpin has enough sense to not allow monsters such as yourselves to participate in the tournament, you will probably end up killing someone." With that she walked away. Hartmann admired how the girl's beautiful long white ponytail flowed behind her as she strode towards the exit of the dinning hall. Her teammates holstered their weapons, and the smallest one, whom Hartmann recognized from the debacle in the forest as the girl in the red cloak, muttered a quiet apology before walking away. She and her team had exhibited quite an amount of bravery in confronting them, most of the other teams thought it better to just ignore their presence completely and remain as far away as possible.

Hartmann turned towards his teammates seated around the table, "The school tournament is approaching isn't it. Are we eligible for entry?" Stigler nodded, "I already confirmed our entry within Ozpin. The first rounds are tomorrow."

"Splendid."


	5. Chapter 5: The Tournament

Chapter 5; The Tournament

Stages had been erected throughout Vale as staging areas for the tournament. Team FEAR stood upon one such stage now and faced their opponent team for the first bracket of the tournament. They were facing another team from Beacon, one by the designation of CRDL. They held an arrogant air about them, but their trepidations about facing such an opponent were quite evident behind their eyes. The leaders of each team, a large fellow in a bulky set of armour by the name of Cardin, and Stigler adorned in his personal suit and trench coat, remained facing each other at center stage while the other three members of each team retreated to their respective side of the stage. The teacher presiding over the tournament announced that the match may begin, and Stigler began to slowly stroll towards Cardin. The opponent charged forward bringing his weapon, a large mace, around in a roundhouse swing towards him. Stigler caught the shaft of his mace in his left hand, and shot out his right fist directly into the bridge of Cardin's nose. His head snapped back and blood arced through the air from his broken nose. Cardin stumbled backwards, losing the grip on his mace, and fell straight onto his ass. Stigler began to examine the weapon in his hand and sneered with disdain; "Interesting design, but very poorly made." He indicated to the still seated Cardin "I would definitely invest in a better weapon mate." Stigler tossed the weapon to Cardin's feet. "Why you little…" Cardin grabbed his weapon and stepped towards Stigler, bringing the weapon up in a two handed overhead swing. Stigler easily sidestepped the strike and delivered a lightning fast strike of the heel of his palm to Cardin's forehead. The blow knocked him flat on his back and he blacked out for a moment. The teacher indicated that the state of Cardin's aura meant that he was no longer fit for Combat. His teammates helped Cardin off the stage and another approached Stigler, any form of covering up his fear completely gone. With a smirk Stigler approached the next teammate.

…

The size of the stage had increased greatly, but not as much as that of the crowd. This, of course, was to be expected for the finals of the Vytal festival tournament. The majority of students from all the academes and had gathered to witness the final match up between teams RWBY and FEAR. Team RWBY had decided not to start their leader this match, instead beginning with whom Hartmann had identified as Blake Belladonna. He had heard many things about this teams skill, in fact, they were the very team he had witnessed dispatch the nevermore in the emerald forest on initiation day. Stigler still began for FEAR, as he did with every fight. He was too damned self important to be made to sit on the sidelines. As soon as the match began Blake's weapon was in hand, it extended into its whip-like form and it shot out at Stigler and he dodged to the side. The blade nicked his cheek and drew a thin line of blood. He sneered and back flipped over her weapon as it swung back around to surround him. He drew his great sword from its place on his back and dashed towards Blake. She caught her weapon and it shifted into a short sword that she used to deflect Stigler's blow. The force of the hit staggered her and she barely blocked Stigler's next swing. Blake used the force of the swing to fling herself backwards through the air. Before she had landed her weapon flicked out at Stigler, shots rang out as it flew across the stage, constantly changing its direction. Stigler hit the blade end away with his sword and snatched the ribbon out of the air with his left hand. He wrapped in around his forearm and pulled backwards violently, Blake was thrown forward and off of her feet at the sudden force, and she lost grip of the handle of her weapon. She dove forward towards the handle and was met with one of Stigler's boots connecting with her lower jaw. While she returned to her senses Stigler gathered up her weapon and returned it to sword form and tossing to the ground in front of her head. She looked up and saw him waiting for her to regain her composure then glanced down at her blade. In the blink of an eye she had snatched up her blade and struck out at Stigler. Every strike was delivered with blurring speed as she dashed around Stigler. "There we go!" Stigler grunted as he deflected another strike. He actually had to work at judging her movements and deflecting her blade. And he was enjoying it. She launched herself at him from behind, but her blade was held too high and Stigler drives the hilt of his sword into her midsection. She grunted loudly as the wind is driven out of her and she is tossed into the air. Stigler swings around and smashes the dull edge of his blade into the side of the airborne Blake, and flings her across the stage. Before she hits the ground Stigler launches himself forwards and drives his knee into her side. Blake collapses to the ground gasping for breath, and it is announced that she is no longer able to fight.

The next team member to step up was one by the name of Yang Xiao Long. Hartmann could feel a strong aura emanating off this girl and remembered the interesting things he had heard about her. Apparently she would enter an enraged state, typically if someone damaged her hair, in which the power of her aura increased greatly, a most unusual habit that Hartmann wished to observe for himself. Team FEAR could see that Stigler was somewhat winded from the previous fight, breathing heavily and sweat visible on his brow, but he was not going to back down from a fight, especially with an audience and to a girl. Yang took a fighting stance and raised her fists, gold bracelets on each hand extending into gauntlets. Stigler made the first move this match; his sword was now sheathed across his back he jabbed his hand out at the girl's throat, but pulled back to dodge her retaliating blow. He ducked beneath another swing and launched his shoulder towards her midsection. The move was overcommitted however and he could not recover in time when she dodged. He tried to twist his torso around and block Yang's impending counter, but was unable to before a gauntlet slammed into his upper back. The hit drove Stigler straight into the ground; he pushed his hands into the ground and flipped himself into a standing position, spinning around at just the right time to deflect Yang's next punch with his leg. He delivered his own retaliating blow, a swift punch that connected with her collarbone. She rode the punch to lessen its force, and before Stigler could deliver his next blow she threw her fist into his diaphragm. Stigler doubled over as the air left his lungs and was greeted with Yang's knee in his face. He tried lunging forward to grab her, but she swiftly ducked below his arms and got behind him. He spun, his fist already flying forward to punch her, but was too slow. The remarkably powerful blow connected directly with his sternum, and when augmented with a blast from the cartridges within Yang's gauntlets he was flung backwards.

The rest of team FEAR snickered as he slid to a rest at their feet. Hartmann stepped over his body and glared down at him with a remark of "Idiot." Stigler tried to get up but winced with pain and instead settled with a sitting position to see Hartmann nonchalantly strolling out onto the stage. Galland crouched down behind him "Wonderful failure you had out there Mr. Stigler." Stigler gave no reply and continued to glare at the blond hand girl standing combat-ready out on the stage. Hartmann halted his advance and let out what sounded like a small laugh before making his move. Faster than her eyes could follow Hartmann massive form was standing in front of Yang. She let fly an instinctive punch at the figure that was stopped with a bone jarring force. Hartmann returned a punch directly into the one that flew into greet him. Yang's gauntlet buckled under the force and she flinched backwards. With his other hand Hartmann delivered a powerful uppercut to the girl's jaw that sent her flying head over heels. She quickly regained her footing but the boy was already on her. Hartmann delivered a flurry of lightning fast blows, he had to admit the girl had skill and great reflexes, actually managing to block a deal of his strikes. Yang dashed to the side and came at him low with a swift kick upwards towards his throat. Hartmann caught the kick halfway through its journey, and using that leg he threw her across the stage. But not before grabbing a few strands of hair. Yang rolled when she hit the ground and popped back up into a kneeling position to face her opponent. Hartmann held out the strands of long golden hair and let them roll from his fingertips and drift to the floor "Show me what you can really do." He simply had to witness this girl's rage fist hand. Seeing the strands of her own, treasured hair, Yang's iris's turned blood red and she shot to her feet "YOU MONSTER!" she cried. Hartmann was taken aback by the sudden exponential increase of aura that radiated from her. She seemed to be surrounded by a blazing inferno as she charged at him. He built up his own aura in his hands and thrust them out as her figure came within arms reach. The confluence of the two immensely powerful aura resulted in a blinding white light that obscured the two combatants from view, the two teams and members of the audience recoiled at the radiant light and explosion of energy.

Hartmann dug his feet into the stage and sweat dripped down his brow at the exertion from using so much aura. He held the girl's outstretched fist back with his hands as that two immobile fighters' auras fought with one another. Eventually Yang's aura gave way and in a small explosion she crashed to the ground. Hartmann inhaled deeply and smiled _such power, _he thought, _this team truly does show potential._

Weiss Schnee was the next of RWBY to walk out onto the stage. Hartmann could not hold back a small smile as she waltzed out, rapier in hand. He drew forth his katana from its sheath at his hip, flourishing the glittering blade through the air. Is weight felt good in his grip, the dense material it was composed of would render it unusable for a normal man. With his enhanced musculature the blade simply had a satisfying heft that would be absent if the normal steel were used. Weiss lunged forward, her figure a blur as she sped towards the behemoth standing across the stage from her. Hartmann's blade glowed as he flicked its tip in her direction, a trail of ice shot out along the ground. As it approached Weiss it suddenly jutted out into a pillar of ice. Weiss grunted as the pillar slammed in her, and she sprawled onto her back. She quickly flipped backwards onto her feet expecting her opponent to already be striking her. But he wasn't. Hartman was still standing there, immobile, with a smile on his face. It was not a crazed smile or even an evil smirk, but a rather warm one. This disconcerted Weiss more than if he had been smiling like a lunatic. Hartmann had not moved in to strike her for two reasons. One being that he didn't want this particular fight to end too quickly. The other was that he was still recovering from the massive expenditure of aura he had used against Yang.

Weiss held back this time, her blade poised to strike or defending. She ran through her training and options in her mind, keeping her eyes focused on her opponent. But then she blinked and he wasn't there. "Well just standing there won't do you much good." The voice boomed behind her and she spun and struck out with her blade. Hartmann deflected her strike with the rapier and kicked her legs out from under her. She hit the ground and rolled, raising an arm to block the impending smash with his boot that never came. She returned to her feet and saw the suited hulk walking away from her "Yes do try to stay on your feet, you won't do much good on the ground." He planted his foot and performed a sharp turn, holding his curved blade out in one had like a mockery of a fencer. "En Garde" he jabbed with the blade and Weiss deflected, returning her own counter strike. The following flurry of clashing blades was too fast for the eye to follow, but Weiss was clearly on the defensive for the majority of it. "Come on now you think too much, where is your passion? Your anger? Your instinct?!" Hartmann struck her blade aside and drew his sword across her throat. She gasped and staggered backwards but the cut was skin deep and harmless. Pearls of blood rolled down her neck, forming a macabre necklace of crimson. Hartmann admired the beautiful contrast of the bright red against her smooth white skin, but frowned when she ruined the beauty of it pressing her hand across the gash. A dial on her rapier spun and her blade became coated in the same shade of red as that on her neck, and rushed forward to strike again. Hartmann parried but the force of the strike blew his blade back. "There we go!" he roared, blocking another strike and riding the blow into a pirouette to slam the hilt of his sword into her side. The blow knocked her back but she used it to put distance between them. The blade now shined cyan as she swung it around and streaks of blue light shot towards Hartmann. The streak met their mark and Hartmann's limbs became restrained by her glyphs. Weiss dashed at him, intent on finishing this before their effect wore out. "Nice trick." Hartmann's words were accompanied by the sound like that of distant thunder, then that of breaking glass as her binding glyphs shattered. Weiss gasped as he stepped to the side of her charge and brought a fist into her jaw. _How could he have done that?_ She wondered as she was launched backwards through the air by the force of his punch. She righted herself before she hit the ground and stopped herself with one of her glyphs. She launched herself back towards her opponent and began to fly around him using a series of glyphs. She flipped over his head, creating another glyph behind her to launch herself at his back. But there was the same shattering sound and she plummeted to the ground, landing hard. This time the stomp of a boot heel did follow her crash landing, which sent her rolling across the stage. "Got anything else?" he asked, and before he could react Weiss summoned a glyph bellow him that launched him into the air. She shot up after him, but he managed to retain his composure in the air rolling above her strike and bringing both heels down hard into her side. Weiss slammed into the ground and her vision blurred with the jarring impact. Hartmann landed and advanced on her but it was announced that she could no longer fight. He grunted with disproval and began to consider allowing one of his teammates takes over the final stage of the fight. The affect of using so much aura was beginning to take its toll on him after fending off Yang's assault and breaking Weiss's glyphs, but when he saw his next opponents weapon he had to stay.

Hartmann licked his lips when he saw Ruby Rose produce her weapon. "Ah, a scythe…" his words were filled with as much adoration as his eyes by this point "Such a wonderful, yet underused weapon. Wouldn't you agree miss Rose?" Ruby gave no reply, somewhat taken aback the boy's evident affection towards her weapon. "But, of course, it has its reasons for being so woefully underused," he continued, "the nature of the blade allows for so much error, both in ways of harming oneself, and leaving you completely open to a counter attack. But if one truly learns how to use a scythe it can radiate such power and elegance, it is bathed in the image of death, and can be of the most dangerous weapons in existence." He looked up into her eyes, seeing the same excitement at impending battle he had in the Emerald forest, now mixed with anger at the defeat of her teammates, and a slight confusion. He struck out, an arcing swing of the scythe stopping the sword. The dull edge of Hartmann's blade struck out towards ruby but she sped away, seeming to teleport behind him. Ruby swung Crescent Rose but Hartmann rolled away. "Your fast, lets see if your fast enough." With these words Hartmann lunged at Ruby. The ensuing fight enraptured the audience, both contestants displaying exemplary speed and strength. Blades clashed and attacks were dodged, it wasn't until nearly two minutes into the fight that the first blow landed. Hartmann spun inside Ruby's defenses, a fist arcing towards her face. She threw herself backwards to avoid the punch and brought her scythe down. Hartmann twisted to block the large blade, but the position he had delivered the strike made for a poor blocking stance and the scythe slashed down across his face. Blood streamed down his face from the diagonal gash and he licked it from his upper lip. Stimulated by the taste of his own blood. Laughter boomed out from his chest "Very good miss Rose! Now do it again!" the next strike came faster than she could block and Hartmann's katana sliced across her side. Ruby winced and disappeared again, materializing in a flurry of rose petals in the air behind Hartmann, Crescent Rose poised to strike. Hartmann leapt up and delivered a spin kick that landed on the wound he had just inflicted, slamming Ruby into the ground. As soon as she was up Ruby attempted to put distance between her and Hartmann, but he was already on her. His first kick connected with her kidney and pushed her right into the kick he delivered with his other foot. The scissor kick folded Ruby in half and they both went down hard. Using the leverage provided by having a foot under Ruby's body, Hartmann kicked her into the air. He rolled to his feet and grabbed Crescent Rose from her weakened grip. Grasping it with both hands chocked down at the base of the scythe Hartmann swung it in a wide arc, smashing the non-bladed side of the scythe into Ruby's stomach. As he heard her ribs crack, Hartmann realized he might be overdoing it to a degree, but it was too late for the now. The force of the swing sent Ruby flying across the stage to smash up against the wall. As she slid down the wall the announcers voice rang out "Ruby Rose is no longer able to battle. The victor of the Vytal festival tournament is team FEAR." Hartmann, the gash across his face nearly gone now, walked over to Ruby who was sitting propped up against the wall and clutching her stomach. He knelt down, holding out the collapsed form of her scythe. She took it with a cringe from the pain in her ribs. Hartmann joined the other members of his team at the front of the stage. The headmasters of all four academies crossed the stage and congratulated each member of FEAR, but a sense of distaste was visible in the eyes of all but Ozpin. The crowds' dislike of the former criminals was also evident in their lackluster applause, they must have gathered there with some hope that FEAR would lose. While the disappointing applause was meant as an insult, FEAR relished in the anger that radiated from the masses more than they would have in any amount of applause.


	6. Chapter 6: Exceptional Performance

Chapter 6; Exceptional Performance

"You all have demonstrated exceptional performance at this academy over the past year." Ozpin addressed the two teams who stood before him in his office. They were by far the two most skilled teams currently enrolled in the school, and probably the best the school has seen in some time. Now to say teams RWBY and FEAR had grown close over their year of attendance at the academy would be an overstatement. FEAR simply didn't get close to anyone, perhaps only slightly less despised by the other students. Although FEAR and RWBY shared a competitive rivalry, being that FEAR found the members of RWBY to be the only students in attendance who possessed enough skill to be worthy of respect. Ozpin stood up and moved around his desk to directly face the two teams, "It is due to your skills that you all have been selected for somewhat of a special assignment. As I am sure you are aware, the criminal Roman Torchwick is still at large. He and his allies have become quite the nuisance, over the past year he has orchestrated the robbery of an unprecedented amount of dust. During this time the police force has proved most ineffectual at putting his antics to an end. That is why I have chosen the eight of you to find and eliminate this criminal. We believe that he and the organization he is affiliated with has been operating out of a base within Forever Fall. It is up to you to locate and take care of Torchwick. Understood?" He received a nod from each of the students lined up before him in acknowledgement. "Very well, we will supply you with a Bullhead for transportation. I trust that you all are capable of performing this task." With that he dismissed the teams from his office. RWBY and FEAR stepped out in to the hallway and Stigler turned to face their new allies, "Well I see no reason to delay this endeavor any longer than need be. If you all are ready I suggest we set out at the earliest convenience."

…

Hartmann moved quickly across the forest floor, he paused his advance and listened for any sign of scouting patrols. There was no noise in the night air besides the light fluttering of leaves cascading to the ground throughout the forest. The remaining members of FEAR and those of RWBY trailed behind Hartmann by a few yards. They had scouted out large sections of Forever Fall during the day and had spotted a structure that could only be Torchwick's hideout. How no one had discovered it before was a wonder, it was located in a large clearing and not exactly difficult to spot, but Forever Fall never did receive many visitors. The teams had waited until nightfall to make their approach, Lützow had brought the bullhead down in a small clearing some distance from the base and the teams had disembarked there. The numerous trees blocked most of the meager light provided by the shattered moon, but Hartmann's augmented eyesight cut through the gloom with ease. He halted his advance as he heard the violent approach of something to his right and jumped back as the black end of a King Taijitu burst from the trees. Hartmann's katana flicked out of its blade and delivered a clean strike that severed the head then rushed of towards the white end. The Taijitu struck out but Hartmann ducked under and thrust his sword up through the creature's mouth and into its skull. Blood pattered down onto him as the large Grimm delivered its death throes. He held his breath and listened, attempting to hear if their presence had been alerted to Torchwick's men or other Grimm. When there was no other sound, he continued his advance.

There were now further complications until Hartmann came to a large circular clearing. At its center was a low, nondescript building that had to be what they had spotted from air earlier. This was confirmed by the presence of a large metal door flanked by two armed guards. He ushered Galland forwards, who knelt beside him and pulled the thirty-caliber rifle from its place across his back. Galland took careful aim and snapped off a shot that went straight through one of the guards skulls, and put a bullet in the brain of the other one before he could draw his weapon. The silenced weapon made light enough of a noise so that those inside would remain oblivious to their presence. The group advanced through the clearing after it had been established that there were no further guards on watch within the area. The iron doors were as nondescript as the building they were set into, with no evident way of opening them. Stigler turned to Galland and ordered him to scout up on the roof and search for another way in. Of the members of FEAR Galland most preferred stealth tactics and eliminating enemies from a distance, back in their mercenary days he had served the role of an assassin whenever a target needed to de killed discretely. He and Blake quickly disappeared onto the roof while the remaining members continued to search for a way through the doors.

"Its no use, they can only be opened from the inside." Stigler turned to face the others, "We'll just have to wait for Mr. Galland and Miss Belladonna to open it up." Hartmann scoffed at his statement, "You think he's going to come back to open up the door? The bastards just going to hunt Torchwick down and take all the glory for himself." Lützow stepped forward "Well if that's the case…" Before anyone could stop him he had his plasma cannon raised at the door. The pulse of superheated air seared strait through the metal doorway, leaving a large smoldering gap. Stigler sighed, "Damn it man! Do you not understand the concept of stealth?" Lützow cracked a smile and shrugged. "Whatever" Stigler turned and ducked through the gap, careful to avoid the red-hot edges.

The doorway opened up into a short hallway composed of the same grey stone as the rest of the complex. The hall diverged into two others, each occasionally hosting an unmarked steel door. Stigler looked over at Ruby "Miss Rose, take the left passageway, we will take the right." Ruby nodded and the three headed down the indicated hallway. FEAR headed in the opposite direction. The majority of the doors went unchecked, as they sincerely doubted the head of the organization would have such a bland office so near the entrance of the building. They did not stop until they had rounded a corner and came to a larger doorway composed of wood instead of the standard metal. Stigler placed his hand on the door and looked back at his teammate, after receiving a brisk nod from them both they pushed into the room. The room's occupants all looked up and froze as the three burst into the room. It was a large area that appeared to be a break room of some sorts; the guards lounging around with their weapons set aside affirmed this impression. Stigler nonchalantly walked over to a nearby guard; he was seated and stared at the three of them with a lost look on his face, a lit cigarette hanging loosely from his lips. "Gentlemen." Stigler grabbed the cigarette from the startled guards mouth, grabbing his head with his other hand he thrust the burning stub into the man's eye. His cries of agony set the room in motion, guards dived for their weapons and FEAR drew forth their own.

Lützow's chain sword whirred to life and promptly eviscerated the nearest guard. The first sweep of Stigler's great sword cut down three of the men as the attempted to leave their seats. Hartmann spun into a group of the guards across the room as they brought their arms to bear. The ensuing fight was laughably one sided, and it was not long before the guards blood painted the walls of the room. Hartmann flicked the blood of his blade as he joined his comrades back out in the hallway. Klaxons now sounded throughout the complex. "Well there goes the stealth aspect of this mission." Stigler shook his head as Hartmann joined him at his side and shrugged as the first of the belated reinforcements rounded the corner at the end of the hallway. "There! Stop them!" The lead guard shouldered his weapon and the others followed suit. The superheated plasma from Lützow's cannon vaporized the lead guard entirely, along with segments of his comrades and the ground he had been standing on. Stigler and Hartmann were on the remaining men before they could pull the trigger, blades arcing through the air to slice through flesh and bone. Stigler looked up at the patterns of blood splayed across the walls, "Certainly livens the place up a bit does it not? It was quite dreary in here before."

The three moved on, passing nothing more than unmarked doors and encountering the occasional group of useless guards. Reports of gunfire echoed through he hallways from other parts of the complex, indicating RWBY had encountered similar resistance.

They eventually ascended a flight of stairs, upon emerging Stigler's sword shot up to deflect a blow from a large curved blade. He ducked in to strike the wielder before recognizing Ruby. "Ah, hello Miss Rose." The other team members relaxed as Stigler indicated the larger hallway branching off the two passageways the teams had taken, "Shall we?" They set off down the long passage at a brisk pace; this hall was void of any of the doors that had marked all the other areas they had been through. The only items to break the solidity of the hallway were periodic skylights. As they progressed they were encountered by a large group of Torchwick's men, the students raised their weapons, but then turned as more heavy footsteps rang out behind them. An even larger force approached from the other end of the passage. The two teams stood back to back as the frontlines of each force took fighting stances. A tense silence filled the air as the all of the combatants planned their moves and observed the enemy. This silence was not broken by gunfire or cries of pain, but by the shattering of glass. The shards rained down on the six Beacon student's followed by two dark figures. Blake and Galland landed beside their teammates, "Gentlemen." Galland addressed his own team before glancing over his shoulder at the members of RWBY "Ladies." In his left hand he gripped the blade of dismemberment, droplets of fresh blood rolling of to drop to the floor, and his .454 equipped with a silencer gleamed in the other. With there numbers complete the students launched themselves into the enemy. Normally the White Fang members would have had the clear advantage, their numbers were far superior to that of teams RWBY and FEAR. However, not only were those they faced of remarkable skill, the environment in which they fought proved a detriment as well. Confined to the hallway, no more than six could stand abreast with room to wield a weapon, and the teams easily cut them down. Most of the shots fired by the guards embedded themselves in their own allies rather than the intended targets. Blades flashed under the harsh light cast by the overhead luminators and shots rang out as blood splashed onto the walls. Hartmann danced into the enemies, thrilled to be presented with such a cornucopia of blood, flesh, and sinew to quench his blade's thirst. Unfortunately it was over all too soon. As he hacked down another adversary he looked up to see something quite disheartening. They were running. Every one of them had turned tail and bolted down the hallway in the direction the teams had come. Hartmann stood from his crouched fighting stance and sighed, he should have expected as much from such lackluster enemies. Stigler barked orders to the others, "Ruby come with me, the rest of you, finish them." The members of FEAR readily obliged and charged down the passage towards the fleeing enemies. RWBY waited for acknowledgement of the orders from their leader, not quick to accept them from another team. Ruby gave them an affirmative nod and they were close on FEAR's heels. She turned towards Stigler and hefted her scythe, and they set off in the other direction.

Stigler would have been just fine with pursuing Torchwick alone. He would have actually preferred it to bring back his head alone, but they are supposed to be working in tandem with RWBY and it would hardly be proper to remove them from the main objective of the mission completely. At they end of the hallway they saw a figure in a white coat exit through a door, two guards broke off from his side and turned to face the oncoming assassins. Ruby shot forward, and in large swipes of her scythe she cleaved the guards in two. Stigler followed her through the door and came out onto a roof area that appears to serve as a landing pad. A few Bullheads were staged across the roof in rows and two of them were taking off into the night sky. The hatch of one opened and revealed a figure inside that could only be Torchwick. He leaned on his cane and looked down at the two figures on the roof below, "Well if it isn't my old friend Red! Long time no see. It's a shame we'll be parting ways again so soon." He pointed the tip of his cane down at the pair Ruby saw what was coming; "Look out!" Torchwick fired and the trio of colourful orbs of dust flew down to roof. Ruby easily dodged and Stigler moved back to avoid being at the center of the blast, using his blade to deflect the worst of the shockwave. "Nice toy, lets see how you like mine!" His sword began to shift, the blade edge retracted up, and the hilt shifted into a stock. He rolled to the side as the hull-mounted machine guns on the second Bullhead stitched a line of bullets across the roof where he had been crouched. Ruby fired a volley of shots from Crescent Rose at the craft, but the shots simply ricocheted of its armour plating. Stigler took aim at the cockpit and fired. The rifle's roar was deafening to unprotected ears and his entire body jerked backwards from the recoil. The depleted uranium 23mm round easily tore through the ship's armour and the pilot's torso, sending the Bullhead spinning down to crash elsewhere in the building. He then turned his aim towards the other fleeing Bullhead that carried Torchwick out over Forever Fall and fired twice. Both rounds flew true and tore into the crafts right engine, the turbine exploded violently and the Bullhead careened downwards as the pilot failed the get the ship under control.

It crashed down into the forest just past the edge of the clearing. Stigler and Ruby leapt from the roof to the ground below, sprinting towards the crash sight. Stigler approached the burning wreck to find a beaten and bloodied Torchwick dragging himself from the deformed hull. He hauled him up and slammed him against the burning metal of the Bullhead, tossing his cane to the side before he had a chance to use it. Blood streaked down Torchwick's face from a gash across his forehead, and is clothes were torn and singed. Stigler pressed one of his .44s against Torchwick's chin, "Any last words mate?" Torchwick let out a small chuckle that degraded into a sputtering cough as blood flecks stained his lips, "You think it will end with me, is that it? That I'm the center of this plan and once I'm gone the entire operation will crumble down around my corpse? Oh, how wrong you are." He delivered the last line with a sneer, and Stigler responded with booming laughter, "Wrong choice of words mate." He bludgeoned Torchwick across the skull with the butt of his pistol and he crumbled to the ground in a moaning heap. Stigler activated the communication link in his ear to the rest of his team, "Change in plans men. Take as many of them alive as you can."


End file.
